Tick Tock Playgroup

Inspection of Tick Tock Playgroup Hall Close, Wroughton, Wiltshire SN4 9LD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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The provision requires improvement

Overall, the quality of education provided for children requires improvement. Although children appear settled and happy to attend, they do not benefit from consistent high-quality interactions from the staff that extend their learning. In addition, some staff do not have the skills and knowledge they need to teach children and help them make the best possible progress. They do not challenge children's ideas and thinking as they play. Children often lose interest and wander off. Furthermore, children who are quieter often go unnoticed during group story and singing activities because staff tend to focus on the more vocal children. Weaknesses in support for children aged two to three years with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and staff's delivery of the curriculum, have an impact on the progress these children make overall.

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The provision requires improvement

Staff teach children some self-care and independence skills. For example, children wash their hands when returning from the garden, cut and prepare their own fruit snack and hang their own belongings on their pegs. Staff promote children's toilet training effectively. This helps them gain some of the skills they need for their eventual move to school and their future learning. Children have access to a range of activities and learning experiences. For example, babies enjoy some messy play activities to explore a range of media and materials using their senses, toddlers use their imaginations and physical skills to build towers with different-shaped wooden blocks, and older children enjoy counting as they engage in games of dominos.

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need to do better?

n The quality of care and learning opportunities provided for the children has declined since the last inspection and requires improvement. Leaders recognise that there are areas of the setting that need improvement. They have implemented some change in response to recommendations made at previous inspections. They have improved the programme for physical development, devised some professional development opportunities for staff and increased the support and supervision. However, despite this, the quality of education is variable. n Leaders and staff design a broad curriculum that sets out what they want children to learn. Although staff's practice is regularly observed, and staff receive some targeted training, support and coaching are not yet fully embedded to ensure that teaching is always of a good standard. In addition, staff do not have the subject knowledge they need to teach. For example, as part of topic-based

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need to do better?

learning about Africa, staff do not give children an accurate cultural reflection of the continent and the countries within it. Staff do not have the skills they need to engage children in purposeful and meaningful learning. As a result, children are often unengaged in play.

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need to do better?

18 August 2025 n Staff identify gaps in children's learning and recognise their individual areas of difficulty. Leaders make referrals to other agencies when appropriate and work with parents and professionals from other external agencies to put support plans in place for children with SEND. However, staff do not consistently implement these plans to ensure that all children, particularly those aged two to three years with SEND, are fully supported to access the curriculum and make good progress. n Overall, staff understand the importance of supporting children's communication and language development. Some staff converse with children well. For example, as they eat, they have conversations around the table, and throughout the day children benefit from singing and story sessions where they hear new vocabulary. n Staff communicate with parents regularly to share information about their child's day, and parents can access information about their child's development through

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need to do better?

an online app. n Children have regular opportunities throughout the day to be outdoors in the fresh air. Older children play imaginatively in the mud kitchen. Outdoors, children have space to be active and enhance their physical development. However, staff do not consistently create sufficiently inspiring play opportunities for the youngest children to learn outdoors. Although babies access particular types of play resources that are aimed at their physical development, they do not have a varied enough range of learning opportunities to support their all-round development when playing outdoors. n Leaders ensure that staff complete regular safeguarding training. Staff know what action to take if they become concerned about the welfare of a child in their care. They are aware of the setting's policies and procedures around safeguarding and know how to implement these policies.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture of safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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Due date

18 August 2025 support and coach all staff to ensure staff consistently provide high-quality interactions, extend children's learning and have suitable knowledge of the topics they teach 20/10/2025

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Due date

ensure that agreed targeted support and strategies for children with specific needs or SEND are fully understood and implemented by all staff. 20/10/2025

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should:

n develop the outdoor provision for the youngest children to increase the range of learning experiences for them at times when they are playing outdoors.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2496417 Local authority Swindon Inspection number 10417077 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 61 Name of registered person Tick Tock Playgroup Committee

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reference number

Telephone number 01793 814191 Date of previous inspection 4 December 2024

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Information about this early years setting

Tick Tock Playgroup registered in new premises in 2018 in Wroughton, Swindon. It operates weekdays, from 8am to 6pm, all year round. The setting provides government-funded nursery education. There are 16 members of childcare staff who work directly with children. Of these, nine hold qualifications at level 3, two hold qualifications at level 2 and five are unqualified.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector held discussions with leaders at appropriate times during the inspection and in a scheduled meeting. n The inspector completed a learning walk with the manager and deputy manager across all areas of the setting to understand how the curriculum is organised. n The inspector observed the quality of education and staff's teaching during children's activities, both indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact this is having on the children's learning. n The inspector, the manager and the deputy manager carried out a joint observation. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation, including staff's suitability to work with children. n The inspector gathered the views of parents, staff and children spoken to during the inspection and through sampling written feedback and took account of their views.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Inspection activities

18 August 2025 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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